Civility, Unity, Tolerance and Other Dangerous Terms
At Religion Dispatches, Eric Miller makes a case against “friendly speech,” preoccupied with terms such as civility, unity, and tolerance. He argues that focus on such words might ultimately be detrimental to the political process. He notes, “Friendly speech often lacks the strength to achieve its discursive goals, and so may serve as a useful tool of the status quo. As in the case above, charges of incivility, divisiveness, and intolerance have recently been utilized to actively inhibit political progress.”